such bullshit

This is an amazing article. I’m serious. Very well written. This is my favorite part:

I asked Higby why they were bringing ads to the fridges. He said via email, “This pilot further explores how a connected appliance can deliver genuinely useful, contextual information. The refrigerator is already a daily hub, and we’re testing a responsible, user-controlled way to make that space more helpful.”

This is similar to the justification Panos Panay, Amazon’s head of Devices & Services, made to me last month when I asked him about advertising on its Echo devices. He said it was looking to be “elegantly elevating the information that a customer needs.”

Do these people actually believe this? Do they see advertisements in their own lives and think, “ah yes, that was useful and contextual. That was a helpful ad, elegantly elevating my information.” I’ve seen some delusional people in executive-level roles, but that would be a special new class of delusion. Nobody likes ads. I recognize that some people have higher and lower tolerances for them, but nobody is actually grateful for them. Right?! I need to believe this is true.

Both companies claim they want to offer “curated,” “relevant” ads that might “enhance the experience.” I can buy that to some extent when it’s ads for features that your smart fridge or smart display offers. This tech is complicated and capable, and most people only tap into a fraction of what their devices can do.

That’s generous. But ok, maybe I can grant the premise.

But there is no future where third-party advertisements will ever be welcome in people’s homes like this — even if they happen to show me a brand of pet food right when my dog is looking at me with hungry eyes.

Right. Exactly. No matter what, I can think of no situation in which an ad is serving the customer’s interests. Maybe in the case of a coupon? But even then, I think it’s dubious.

Worth pointing out that that “Target figured out a girl was pregnant before her father did” story is almost certainly untrue: https://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/machinelearningtimes/target-really-predict-teens-pregnancy-inside-story/3566/

I agree with the article that getting ads on a device you’ve already paid for with no hint that there would be ads is intrusive and a sad sign of how tech is going (in the same week that it was announced that Apple are going to be adding ads to Maps, too). But I also can’t help but wonder - who the fuck wants a smart fridge? Like, legitimately, what is the advantage over a normal fridge?

I’m clinging to my “dumb” fridge for dear life

So, what happens if I use pi-hole or adguard to block DNS for the advertisement TLDs, like I do for all the other gizmos in the house trying to show me ads or obtain telemetry data?

I was ready gawk at what ads on my fridge would look like, and then this. I don’t know what I expected.

imagine paying 2k for a fridge just because it has a screen and stupid smart shit. basic fridge please and thank you.

Why. Why would anyone buy a fridge with a screen. We have lots of screens. A fridge does not need a screen. It is a fridge.

Repo it please, I will simply use salt to preserve my food

And here’s how to opt out.

I’m opting out by buying a significantly cheaper non-smart fridge. Which luckily is still an option.

Any “ads” that appear on my fridge will be because I was given a $2000 fridge free by the company. Only idiots pay for appliances/services that include ads.

No they won’t, because I’m not stupid enough to buy a ridiculously overpriced fridge.

But can it run Linux

Here’s what they look like on my fridge:

I would not buy appliances with ads,
I would not buy them, Sam-I-Am.

Opt out is idiotic. Don’t buy this shit! You to not own it. What fuckwit dumbass rents a fridge someone else controls for $2k. I bet it has a camera inside to sell grocers a list of what to mark up for your custom pricing nonsense because you bought a billboard that screams I’m a gullible moron with more money than sense.